


Bonding Time

by wonderlandiscrumbling



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Ed being a dad, Ed holding up his promise, Fluff, Gen, Spoilers for Season 4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2019-04-07 03:37:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14072064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wonderlandiscrumbling/pseuds/wonderlandiscrumbling
Summary: Ed feels he should at least take a bit of time to try and get to know the orphan boy that has so much of Oswald's interest.





	Bonding Time

Ed had wisely chosen to ask no questions when Oswald had told him to go retrieve the orphan boy for him. He hadn’t known exactly how to feel about the situation, he still wasn’t entirely sure as to what events caused Oswald to form such a parental protective nature over some random child, but he was going to go with what his friend wanted. He’d been thankful that the safe house Martin was being kept in had been quite low level, even more grateful that the boy seemed to be just as bright as Oswald had bragged he was. He had worried the boy wouldn’t trust him or want to go with him, but he’d seemed more than happy to get far from the place he’d been captive for over a month.

He couldn’t blame him.

As they made their way down the street, Ed still holding his hand, he could feel eyes staring up at him. He glanced down to see Martin staring up at him, curiosity held in bright brown eyes that were almost as dark as his own. Normally Ed would find it uncomfortable to have somebody staring at him, but he highly doubted the child was judging him, and he knew the kid wasn’t scared of him. Ed glanced at his watch checking the time, he knew that Oswald would still be safely tucked away in Arkham, Sofia would currently be finding out that Martin was missing, and as he figured he did have enough time to take the kid out for ice cream as promised. 

He took him to a parlor a few blocks away, a place he used to stop in at after work back when he’d still been with the GCPD. To his amazement none of the employees or customers recognized him, a piece of his dignity slightly hurt at the fact his reign of chaos in the city the prior year seemed to have no real impact on the citizens of Gotham. 

At the counter he’d ordered pistachio for himself and a swirl cone for Martin, the boy still mostly looking up at him, giving Ed’s hand the occasional squeeze. Ed could tell he was eager to just go sit so he could begin questioning him, the boy was bright, and he knew he must have questions about what was going on. 

The moment they got to a booth towards the back Martin began scribbling down on his notepad, Ed ate his ice cream and watched as he wrote, the boy’s eyebrows furrowed as he focused on his question before turning the paper to face him.

‘Where is he?’

Ed considered the question for a moment, he had no plans to lie to him about Oswald’s whereabouts, but he didn’t exactly want to worry him about the whereabouts of his caretaker.

“Oswald is currently a bit busy, he’s fine so don’t worry about that. I’ll be bringing him back home for you by the end of the night.” Ed assured smiling at him.

Martin smiled softly, he tore off the sheet of paper then began writing again on the next.

‘How do you know him?’

Again, Ed thought over the question. He looked out the window watching the people walking by, listening to distant sirens and screams, the typical sounds of the city. He thought about his history with Oswald, pondered about the current mysterious state of their relationship.

“We are…. friends, we’ve known each other for quite some time.” He answered easily, smiling brightly.

He liked to think they were working back towards friends again or maybe more, but he wasn’t about to push his luck on the first one let alone the second one. He figured that rescuing Oswald’s adopted son was a good first step.

Occasionally Ed checked his watch, still he figured he had plenty of time. He watched as Martin ate his ice cream, his questions for the mean time put on hold as he started drawing. The boy ripped off a sheet of paper tossing it to the side seeming frustrated with the drawing as if it hadn’t come out the way he’d hoped. Ed slid the page over towards himself turning it to get a better look at what the boy had created. It was a crude drawing of two men and a woman, the men missing their heads and knives sticking out of the woman’s eyes. Martin ceased in his drawing as he noticed Ed looking at the paper, he looked up at him, a fearful look in his eyes. Ed smiled as he pushed the page back towards him.

“You are quite the creative one, aren’t you?”

The boy continued to stare, looking confused before he began writing something down.

‘You aren’t mad?’

“No, of course not. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with artistic creativity, I’ll admit the art isn’t exactly top quality, but I’m sure with some lessons you’ll improve.” 

Martin smiled brightly at him before writing again.

‘Can you teach me how to draw?’

“Sure, once I get uncle Penguin home and everybody gets settled in then I suppose I can get some art supplies, show you how to draw.”

Ed smiled feeling warmed at the genuine excitement the boy showed at the prospect of being shown how to draw. They resumed eating their ice cream, Martin focusing again on his artwork, some of his drawings on the lighter side. Ed began thinking about what things could be like once Oswald was out of Arkham, once Sofia was six feet under or more preferably thrown into a wood chipper. He smiled to himself thinking perhaps if he were lucky that Oswald would let him move back in with him, then he could get a better chance to really get to know Martin, and he could make up for a year worth of lost time. 

It was a charming thought at least.


End file.
